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Thursday, 11 April 2013

owl revisited

bowl full of the dried left over felted remains of owl, there are feathers in there, tiny bits of bone, leaves and who knows

up close you can see skeletal leaves and feathers and bones all felted together in the bucket this past year;the felted cluster looks like a bird here with a long narrow beak:

on the bottom left here you can see two red spiders and a larva possibly from the crane fly/langpootmug? although they don't have the long tail. I haven't been able to find pics of larvae or grubs with these long tails, so I don't really know what they are. If it has been in the bucket full of water this past year, it'll probably need water; so I pour some of the dye water and a couple of mushy leaves into this biscuit container and place the larva on a leaf and let it decide whether it wants to dive into the water or not and whilst I was observing number one, the cluster moved and there was larva number two, an even bigger one and I let that one slide onto a wet leaf as well and they both slid in and under water! later on two more appeared I have let them join the others in the mini swimming pool; I've no idea what I'm saving here

another insect, a black ladybird with yellow spot

bird

the collection

warrior

another beast: this piece started life as a house and transformed itself into a cat; cats have been creeping into my work lately; why I wonder? I've been doing some 'research' on the symbolism of the cat; they come to us when they feel like it, joining us on their terms, so independence could be a message here; they could represent domesticity, freedom and cruelty (because of their hunting instincts, which strikes me as odd, for we all must hunt/kill in order to survive); I think the cat here, as she was conceived as a house, most likely belongs to a friendly tribe, the positive kind that warns us of rain as they are sensitive to water, and guess what: after weeks of cold and no rain, today the temperature has risen and it has been raining slightly all day!

well. what strikes me here - the marvelous continuity and also contrast between the organic works and the cloth... and your scientific wonder - so broad and admirable. A part of me wants to ask (and I don't get grossed out easily, mind): do these bundles stink?!!

There is half of a dead squirrel in our front yard. These things always move me, compel me, startle the self into the moment... but this time I also found myself thinking of you....

oh Grace that would be fun! FUN, but alas it has to be a long distance relationship; the larvae keep very much to themselves....Dee: no it doesn't stink at all!! the other day when I was cleaning out the bucket containing Owl, the stench was awful, once everything had dried out it was and is very much okay; I've just gone to check and smell again: I can describe it as being close to when you stroke your dog or in Grace's case your goat, and you smell them and then your hand and there is a definite 'animal scent' and when it's one-of-your-own you rather like this smell; I associate it with a warm day with slight rain and you notice all kinds of woody smells and mown grass, it has a gentleness to it.Of course this happens after the fleshy parts have dissolved/been eaten away.The larvae btw are gross, but fascinating as well, like slugs.(I have become fascinated by slugs these past wet summers -I know it DOES sound weird- but will definitely try filming them, they get up to all sorts!)

About Me

why a blog

People kept asking me: what is it you paint? Instead of trying to describe my work I decided to start this blog; this is also why I started with posting the digital images I had of older paintings.

And I guess I also hoped the extra focus and discipline needed to maintain a blog, might give me new insight(s) into my work, my aspirations and possibly even my life.......if that's not too much to ask, thank you very much